I would just say that we're on a long road. I've been studying the climate movement since the 1990s when climate change started becoming a focus for the UN and people started talking about it. Initially, when we were doing work on climate change and the climate movement, everybody was talking about the precautionary principle. And today, the world has changed quite substantially too. But what we also noticed is that a third of Americans said in the past year they had experienced some sort of a climate shock. And that really changes the way that the movement resonates.
From the Boston Tea Party to the Civil Rights Movement to Black Lives Matter, activists have long sought to bring pressing issues into the public consciousness. Climate activism is no different. This past Earth Day spawned a new ripple of climate activism. Activists protested at the headquarters of BlackRock in New York City, smeared paint on the casing around an Edgar Degas statue and even tried to block the entrance of the White House Correspondents dinner in DC. But that’s not the only style of activism that’s happening. Some are working from within big institutions to effect change. So what actions really move the needle?
Guests:
Dana Fisher, Professor of Sociology, University of Maryland
Rose Abramoff, Earth Scientist and Climate Activist
Ilana Cohen, Lead Organizer, Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard
For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org.
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